Seated at the height of 2200 meters above sea level is the holy shrine of Lord Shiva, popularly known as Kalpeshwar. The temple is located in the scenic Urgam valley in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Kalpeshwar is the only one of the PanchKedar temples that is accessible throughout the year.
The tale behind the formation of PanchKedar dates back to the Mahabharat era. It is believed that after the legendary war of Kurukshetra ended. The Pandavas emerged victorious over the Kauravas. Despite winning, the Pandavas gave away their land to their kinships and went on a journey to atone for the sins of Fratricide and Brahma Hatya( killing of Brahman). They went to Kashi in the hope of seeking forgiveness from Lord Shiva. However, Shiva was displeased by them and left Kashi. He came to the Garhwal region in the form of a bull.
The Pandavas reached Garhwal looking for Lord Shiva. While on their quest, Bhima recognized Lord Shiva in the disguise of bull grazing at Gupt Kashi. He went to catch the bull and caught hold of its tail. The bull tried to go under the ground, and its body part emerged at different places. The hump emerged at Kedarnath, the arms appearing at TungaNath, the face showing up at RudraNath, the navel and the belly appearing at Madhyamaheshwar, and the hair appearing at Kalpeshwar. The Pandavas built five temples in these five places to seek forgiveness and to worship Lord Shiva. The Pandavas were then freed from their sins.
The temple is situated around 111km from Rudraprayag, 251 km from Rishikesh, and 266 km from its nearest airport. It is easily accessible throughout the year. Even though it is accessible by car up to 300m from the temple, people mostly prefer the trek of 2km from Urgam valley.
The trek to Kalpeshwar Temple Uttarakhand offers its visitor various shades of Mother Nature. The accurate words to describe the trek will be Vibrant, Fascinating, and Serene. The trail gives the visitor a glance into Uttarakhand’s village life and the picturesque view of Nanda Devi, Nanda Ghunti, and Trishul mountain peek. One can find a campsite amongst the heavenly view of clouds after the vertical climb. One of the intriguing features of the Kalpeshwar temple is the Kalpvriksha. It is believed that Kalpvrikshafulfills all the wishes. The dense forest around the Kalpeshwar Temple and the terraced fields of Urgam Valley make it a perfect spot to sit back and search for Shiva within oneself.